Ah, the New Year: a clean slate of 12 months that are full of promise and potential for what the coming year will hold. It’s a popular time for reflection, resolutions and goal setting. Of course, many of us set resolutions that we have absolutely no hope of achieving. Not because we don’t want to, but often because our resolutions are ambitious and require discipline, and we neglect to put a plan in place to ensure we reach these goals.
The world of PR is no different when it comes to approaching goals. Need to boost your brand’s image? Aiming to increase revenue by 12 percent? Looking to reach a new, larger audience? All of these are possible but require strict focus and actionable steps to successfully achieve.
Below, we run through five ways to help PR professionals with lofty ambitions meet their goals.
1: Make a list – and then prioritize
First things first: Identify what you want to achieve and write it down. This is the first step toward making any goal a reality, as you’re transferring the abstract from your thoughts to a tangible list. Suddenly, there’s your goal staring back at you.
Take a page from Warren Buffet, who when it comes to goal setting, recommends listing your top 25 goals and then circling the five that are most important. This will help sharpen your focus on the goals that matter most to you.
Goals are generally supposed to be large and ambitious to push you and give you something to work toward. However, to help ensure that you are successful, be specific with the goals you want to achieve and make sure they are realistic for you to progress toward. Ultimately, you want to set yourself up for success.
2: Establish objectives and set deadlines
As the old saying goes, one must learn to walk before they can run. Break your goal into smaller, actionable objectives you can accomplish that will ultimately help you achieve your goal, and set deadlines for when you’ll meet these objectives. This will establish a plan and create a clear path to success. The deadlines will push you toward making progress and keep you from letting important tasks fall by the wayside. You can visualize where you currently are with your goal, where you need to go next, and where you ultimately hope to land.
For example, say you want to run a marathon. Ultimately, you want to complete a 26-mile race, with race day being your final deadline. This will require a significant amount of training and endurance building leading up to the race. You’ll pick a training program where you schedule four or five runs a week. As you begin training, you’ll start small and gradually increase the lengths of your runs each week. You’ll monitor your pace throughout and eventually build yourself up to doing a trial 20-mile run. Throughout the process, you can evaluate the progress you’ve made and how close you are to accomplishing your goal.
3: Assess where you anticipate successes and difficulties
As you progress toward your goal, some parts of the process will naturally come easier while others will be downright challenging. Brace yourself for encountering hurdles, as you will undoubtedly meet resistance at one point or another, but don’t let this derail your progress.
One of the best ways to handle problems is to address them early on. You may be able to anticipate some of the difficulties you’ll encounter, which will allow you to plan how you’ll manage them.
Maybe you’re looking to boost annual revenue numbers but are aware of a couple calendar windows where business slows down. Explore potential campaigns or promotions you can launch during this timeframe to combat this, or look into getting a jumpstart on those periods where business runs hot and identify ways for extending that engagement further into the cool-down phase.
4: Implement a system for accountability …
Own your accountability – this can be arduous but it will make achieving your goal that much sweeter. Monitor daily how well you’re progressing toward your goal. This will help you determine if your method is working and what approaches need to be refined.
You can incorporate visual aids to maintain visibility on your progress. Using the revenue example, chart your monthly progress and assess how much work you still have ahead. Calendars and daily planners are incredibly useful for tracking deadlines. Also, enlist the help of an accountability partner who will sound off in case you’re neglecting meeting your objectives.
5: … and don’t forget a system for rewards
You’ve done the work, you deserve the spoils. Celebrate your victories big and small. Each checkpoint crossed means you’re one step closer to achieving your larger goal. Brought a new client into the fold? Secured placement in a national publication? Met your revenue numbers for the quarter? Those are all calls for celebration. A lot of planning and groundwork goes into achieving your goals. Appreciate your painstaking efforts in the journey toward your destination.